


The New Red Paladin

by lostspacecowboy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 12:31:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16159037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostspacecowboy/pseuds/lostspacecowboy
Summary: "Never in my wildest dreams I thought this could happen to me. What are the chances of meeting an alien princess who has slept for ten thousand years and who suddenly tells me I’m the pilot of a Red Lion and, alongside four other people, we have to protect the universe against another alien called Zarkon?"





	The New Red Paladin

**Author's Note:**

> Sup! Here is what I came up with for the 1st day of Keithtober. I won't be able to write everyday due to university, but I'll try to write as many days as possible.
> 
> I just wanted to say, before you start reading, that English is not my native language but my second one, and even though I feel pretty confident in it, please, if you see any type of error, correct me. Also, there's a reason why I'm writing in the first person, which you'll find out later, and I tried to be like Keith, so at least give me points for that.
> 
> Without further ado, let's start the reading.

Never in my wildest dreams I thought this could happen to me. What are the chances of meeting an alien princess who has slept for ten thousand years and who suddenly tells me I’m the pilot of a Red Lion and, alongside four other people, we have to protect the universe against another alien called Zarkon?

 

Well… That’s pretty much what happened.

 

After being kicked out from the Garrison, a story that I could tell about when I have more time to do so, I felt lost. Shiro was missing and I didn’t have no one who could help me or any sense of direction regarding my future. I didn’t know what else to do if I wasn’t at the Garrison to become a pilot.

 

Until I felt something… indescribable.

 

I was drawn to a place in the middle of a desert, living the following months on a cabin hidden from everything and everyone. I felt a connection to an energy that I had to search, that I had to understand. I’ve never felt called out like this in my life, so it must had to be something important.

 

I didn’t know at the time what exactly I was trying to find. My intuition was telling me to keep looking for something I couldn’t pinpoint, something I couldn’t make sense of, despite days of thoroughly research.   

 

I couldn’t give up. 

 

Eventually, I found out some giant boulders with caves covered with ancient markings, a blue depicting a blue lion. I felt compelled to go there and find by myself what was there, but then, another thing that you can either call destiny or a totally unrelated event occured.

 

Shiro came back to Earth.

 

An alien spaceship crashed near the Garrison and Shiro was the only one there. I had to save him before he could be used in experiences or tortured in some way. That was how I met other Garrison cadets, Lance, Hunk and Pidge, who tried to help but became more of a burden than an actual help.

 

Still… they were quite helpful later.

 

After rescuing Shiro and discussing the problem, Hunk found out something about a line which name I can’t remember, but it’s not important now, and built a machine that helped us track the exact cave where the alien element was. We found out a massive blue lion that we’ve never seen before and the following events seem so far away now when they just happened a few days ago.

 

One of the guys, Lance, decided to go inside the lion to pilot it, even though he didn’t know anything about it or even how to pilot it. I don’t even get this guy, he said he was my rival during our Garrison days when I didn’t even know him at all. Sure, I know he was one of the Cadets and I liked to tease him sometimes, but I honestly don’t know  _ anything  _ about him except that he was fun to tease.

 

Trying to make sense of things, an alien spaceship that later we found out was Galra tried to attack us, we managed to escape after causing some damage, and we charged through a wormhole without knowing where it would lead us.

 

In  _ our _ defense, the Blue Lion told us to do so. At least, Lance said that.

 

We ended on Planet Arus, in front of a Castle where we met Allura, an Altean princess, and Coran, who I believe takes care of technical issues regarding the castle. They explained to us that the Emperor Zarkon destroyed Altea and the only chance the universe has against him is Voltron: five robot lions, each one piloted by a paladin, that together form some sort of robot man. Allura’s father, King Alfor, scattered the lions so we had to find three of them, since we already got the Blue and Black ones.

 

I had to stay at the castle while the others were looking for the Yellow and Green Lions. When Allura talked about each one of them, I was the one who would pilot the Red one, the most difficult one to master and the most temperamental one. The fastest, most agile one and also the most unstable.

 

His pilot had to be someone who trusted on instincts, so I should be the one to do it. I should be the Red Paladin of Voltron, the one who wouldn’t only trust in skill, the one who could tame the untamed Lion and pilot him.

 

I didn’t know if I was up to the task. While Hunk was looking for the Yellow Lion and Pidge for the Green one, I couldn’t stop imagining, impatiently waiting for Allura and Coran to track my lion, if I was the right choice. Shiro was a natural born leader, he deserved to be the pilot of the Black Lion, the head of Voltron. He was smart, wise, and everyone would follow him without questioning him twice. And Lance would pilot the Blue Lion, but I can’t really explain that decision. Now, me? A paladin of Voltron, someone who should help the universe and fight against the Galra? Someone like me who didn’t have a family, besides Shiro, and was kicked out for being too abrasive? The Lion would never listen to me, we would probably be so similar we wouldn’t come to an agreement.

 

In fact, what if I couldn’t communicate with the Red Lion? The waiting was worse for myself than I thought it would be, my mind thinking about too many negative outcomes. 

 

The Lion was on a Galra ship orbiting Planet Arus. We made a plan to find it and bring the Lion to the Castle. I was excited for some action, but still questioning my ability to connect and pilot the Red Lion. What if I was the only one failing and not, in the end, the right one? A rush of emotions ran through me until we got in the spaceship. 

 

Then, there wasn’t time to think, there wasn’t time for doubts. We went in our separate ways, and I knew I had to find my lion. However, it became quickly frustrating to look for something when you have aliens guarding every inch of a spaceship you’ve never been in and you’re in too much of a rush to stop and try to connect to the Lion’s energy.  

 

_ Patience yields focus. _

 

_ Patience yields focus. _

 

Shiro was right. I had to stop and open to the possibility of feeling the Lion, connecting to his consciousness and finding out the location. Even with the chance of being found out, I knew Shiro and Pidge were also doing something important. I knew everyone was counting on me. I had to do this for them.

 

I had to do this for myself.

 

The rest of the day was a ride. I indeed connected to the Red Lion. I found her and was attacked by aliens. I was threw up to space and, fortunately, when I thought there was no salvation for me, she helped me. I got her respect. We bonded and I felt it. She looked inside of me, she looked at me and, for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was being judge or put aside. I felt accepted and I felt she was like me as well. Rough around the edges, but always trying to prove I was more than others could see. I felt… understood.

 

It’s hard to explain what I felt. I know the Red Lion felt the same way. We fought together for the first time and we’ll fight many times in the future as well. I am part of Voltron and I am the Red Paladin.

 

And things are just getting started.

  
  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it. It's my first work published here on AO3 and I'll be glad to read your comments and opinions.


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